First Day of School, Ice Cream Social, Solar Eclipse, Beaver Boost, and More!

Briarlake PTA

Week 1

August 7-11

First Day of School

The first day of school is here! Please see some important information and tips to make the first day a success:

School starts at 7:40 a.m.

Be on time! Earliest drop off is 7 a.m.

Please bring school supplies from lists located on the PTA website on the first day if you did not buy them online. Online purchases will be delivered to your child's classroom

Parents can walk their children down to their classroom on the first day, and then join parents in the cafeteria for the parent coffee from 7:40-8:40 a.m.

School ends at 2:20 p.m

In carpool, please display name signs until your child is safely in your car.

Car pool information

Please keep our children and families safe by following the car pool instructions (see car pool information in your open house packet)

No left turns into school off Briarlake Rd. There will be police stationed on Briarlake Rd. periodically throughout the year to ticket those who violate the left turn law.

Please do not use cell phones during car pool.

School Directory/Planners

Were you not able to purchase your child's planner (2nd-5th graders only) or complete your family's information in the school directory at Open House? No problem! Complete those tasks here:
https://briarlakepta.membershiptoolkit.com

PTA Events

Coffee Cheers (or Tears), Monday, August 7th, 7:30-8:15

After you drop your little ones off in their new classrooms on the first day of school, give a great big sigh of relief, then head to the cafeteria to celebrate (or cry!) with us. We'll have coffee, juice, and tissues if you need them! Start the school year off right by taking a moment to connect with some of your new and returning Briarlake parents. We hope to see you there!

All students who complete the challenge will have their picture taken for the blast and the achievement bulletin board and will receive a token of acknowledgement.

#yourptadollarsatwork

Volunteer for the Ice Cream Social!

Calling all parent and student volunteers. Sell pizza, hand out ice cream, or do something else to help out at the Ice Cream Social.
Sign up here to volunteer!

PTA Reflections

The theme for 2017-2018 is Within Reach.

Categories for entry include: Dance choreography, Film production, Literature (which includes not only poetry or short stories but also screenplays and more), Music composition, Photography, Visual Arts (which include not only painting but also sculpture, wind chimes, fiber arts, print making, dioramas, and many more).

STONE MOUNTAIN, GA. - The DeKalb County School District (DCSD) will extend its school day by one hour on Monday, Aug. 21, 2017, to provide safe viewing and instructional opportunities related to the expected solar eclipse that day.

Dismissal will occur one hour later than usual, at the end of the extended learning period. Our three-tier dismissal system starts with elementary schools, followed by high schools, and finally middle schools. Parents are encouraged to contact their child's school to determine the exact dismissal time on Monday, Aug. 21.

According to NASA, the solar eclipse will occur across North America that day when the moon obscures 97.4 percent of the sun. The solar eclipse will be viewable around 1:02 p.m. and end at 4 p.m. DCSD reminds its community that it is not safe to stare directly into the sun without special glasses, and it is providing lessons that will allow students to safely take advantage of the moment.

Those lessons may include the distribution of special viewing glasses, and opportunities to view the eclipse using monitors and safe viewing options. Many teachers will also include information on the eclipse in their lessons that day, as appropriate.

Briarlake After Care:

August Updates

AFTER CARE ACTIVITIES

Briarlake's After School Extended Day Program (ASEDP) is excited to be adding new after school activities in 2017-2018.

Four Seasons Sports Camp, Ultimate Frisbee: Starting September 2017; Time and date TBA

ONLINE PAYMENT

Ms. Hamilton and Ms. Francis are encouraging all After Care parents to use the Webstore for weekly payments. You can sign up on the Briarlake website. Direct link with additional information
can be found here.

REMIND APP FOR IMPORTANT UPDATES

Please sign up on Remind for important updates from Ms. Hamilton.

If you have a smartphone and get push notifications:

On your iPhone or Android, open your web browser and go to rmd.at/a8a67

Follow the instructions to sign up for Remind. You'll be prompted to download the app.

If you don't have a smartphone, to get text notifications:

Text the message @a8a67 to the number 81010

If you're having trouble with 81010, try texting @a8a67 to (404)620-3365

School Lunch

Breakfast is $1.40 and Lunch is $2.50. Cash, check, or money order is accepted OR you can try the new automated system.SchoolCafe - allows parents to add money to their children's account using a credit or debit card. Once an account is established, parents can check balances and fund their children's accounts online via their secure website. It also sends reminders when the balance is getting low.

Kroger's Atlanta Division customers and associates are eligible to re-enroll in the Kroger Community Rewards program. Customers and associates can designate reward points you earn to the participating schools, charity or organization of your choice by using your Kroger Plus Card. Organizations and schools do not need to enroll each year, but EACH Kroger shopper is required to re-enroll his or her Kroger Plus Card on an annual basis. Re-enrollment is now, and dollars accumulate for your choice of charity beginning August 27, 2017. Please visit www.krogercommunityrewards.com

The Kroger Community Rewards (KCR) program is evaluated annually, and the time for Kroger Plus Card holders to re-enroll is now. The Atlanta Division launched the program in September 1, 2013 and Card holders must re-enroll to begin accumulating dollars for their schools, charities, and organizations starting August 27, 2017. This year, Kroger is proud to donate $500,000 to local schools and nonprofits through this Kroger Plus Card based fundraiser.

WHO

All organizations that have already signed up for Community Rewards DO NOT have to enroll again. Once an organization is signed up for the program they continue to be active.

An organization's enrolled members and supporters DO have to re-enroll every August. They will not have to set up a new Kroger.com account only link their card again to the organization of their choosing.

WHEN

Now through August 26, 2017 customers may re-enroll. Their current selection will not be affected and continue to earn rewards through the end of this program year.

Their re-enrollment organization will start earning for the new program year starting August 27, 2017.

Past programs of this nature tend to lose their impact over long periods of time. Participants need to have an active role in order for the program to continue to be effective and engage our customers

Play St. Pius Jr. Lions Flag Football

Mark your calendars now for another fun-filled "Sunday afternoons only" season coming this August! The 2017 Jr. Lions Flag Football League is open to children from 1st through 6th grades and is normally divided up in 3 divisions based on grade levels. This year's season plans to kick off on
August 20th and will run through October 22d.

The Jr. Lions program is a great venue for the kid's to learn the game of football in a safe and fun environment.
We fill up quickly. As in past seasons, the number of participants will be limited so it is important to sign up as soon as possible!

We look forward to seeing your child(ren) on the St. Pius fields this fall!!